Final week in the House: Tuesday, May 14

During the last week of the session, The Missouri Times will bring you updates of floor activity of each chamber. Below is all the floor activity in the House from Tuesday, May 14. For live updates on the Senate, click here.

Championed by Sen. Kiki Curls, the bill removes the following crimes from the list of crimes where expungement is not currently available: property damage in the first degree, stealing, possession of a forging instrumentality, and fraudulent use of a credit device or debit device.

In the House committee, Rep. Cody Smith’s HB 113 on minimum sentencing — which was TAFP as part of another bill on Monday — was added. But Smith, the House handler of the Senate bill, moved tongue-in-cheek for the adoption of the committee substitute seeking to roll the measure back to the original purpose.

The House Committee Substitute was not adopted and the chamber ultimately made no changes to the bill, enabling it to be truly agreed and finally passed.

Championed by Sen. Jeanie Riddle, the bill requires the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to establish, subject to appropriations, a statewide hearing aid distribution program to provide financial assistance to certain low-income individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to obtain hearing aids.

Championed by Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, the bill would prohibit any county commission or health center board from establishing ordinances or other rules on agricultural operations that are more stringent than those already in place at the state level — legislation that would greatly impact concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

The bill sparked fierce debate over environmental protection versus autonomy for local government earlier in the Senate.

Rep. Tracy McCreery, the ranking member of the House Agricultural Policy Committee, failed to attach an amendment requiring local approval. Rep. Doug Beck failed to attach an amendment prohibiting foreign businesses from purchasing agricultural land in Missouri.

HB 387 is an omnibus child protection bill, a measure that includes Hailey’s Law, Simon’s Law, and a variety of provisions. Championed by freshman Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, the original measure sought to protect minor’s who are victims of sex trafficking and was expanded in the Senate.

After Tuesday’s vote, it will go back to the Senate for another vote in the upper chamber.

Alisha Shurr is a reporter for the Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine. She joined the Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University. Contact Alisha at alisha@themissouritimes.com.

Alisha Shurr is a reporter for the Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine. She joined the Missouri Times in January 2018 after working as a copy editor for her hometown newspaper in Southern Oregon. Alisha is a graduate of Kansas State University. Contact Alisha at alisha@themissouritimes.com.